Deep Ecliptic Survey
Encyclopedia
| 19521 Chaos 19521 Chaos 19521 Chaos , is a cubewano, a Kuiper-belt object not in resonance with any planet. It is a likely dwarf planet. Chaos was discovered in 1998 by the Deep Ecliptic Survey, with Kitt Peak's 4 m telescope. Assuming it has an albedo of 0.09, the absolute magnitude of 4.9 would make it about... |
November 19, 1998 |
| 28978 Ixion 28978 Ixion 28978 Ixion is a Kuiper belt object discovered on May 22, 2001. Ixion is a plutino and a very likely dwarf planet; its diameter of 650 km estimated by Spitzer makes it about the fifth largest plutino. It is named after Ixion, a figure from Greek mythology... |
May 22, 2001 |
| 38083 Rhadamanthus 38083 Rhadamanthus 38083 Rhadamanthus is a trans-Neptunian object . It was discovered in 1999 by the Deep Ecliptic Survey. It was originally classified as a plutino but no longer is.It is named after the Greek mythological figure Rhadamanthus.-External links:... |
April 17, 1999 |
| October 21, 2001 | |
| 53311 Deucalion 53311 Deucalion 53311 Deucalion is a trans-Neptunian object . It was discovered in 1999 by the Deep Ecliptic Survey . It is classified as a cubewano, and named after Deucalion, from Greek mythology.-References:... |
April 18, 1999 |
| 54598 Bienor 54598 Bienor 54598 Bienor |Bianor]]) is a centaur that crosses the orbit of Uranus. It is named after Bienor, one of the centaurs that attended Pirithous' wedding and fought in the ensuing battle against the Lapiths. He was killed by Theseus.-External links:... |
August 27, 2000 |
The Deep Ecliptic Survey (DES) is a project to find Kuiper belt
Kuiper belt
The Kuiper belt , sometimes called the Edgeworth–Kuiper belt, is a region of the Solar System beyond the planets extending from the orbit of Neptune to approximately 50 AU from the Sun. It is similar to the asteroid belt, although it is far larger—20 times as wide and 20 to 200 times as massive...
objects (KBOs), using the facilities of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory
National Optical Astronomy Observatory
The National Optical Astronomy Observatory is the United States national observatory for ground based nighttime ultraviolet-optical-infrared astronomy. The National Science Foundation funds NOAO to provide forefront astronomical research facilities for US astronomers...
(NOAO).
The principal investigator is Bob Millis.
Since 1998 through the end of 2003, the survey covered 550 square degrees
Square degree
A square degree is a non-SI unit measure of solid angle. It is denoted in various ways, including deg2, sq.deg. and ². Just as degrees are used to measure parts of a circle, square degrees are used to measure parts of a sphere. Analogous to one degree being equal to π /180 radians, a...
with sensitivity
Apparent magnitude
The apparent magnitude of a celestial body is a measure of its brightness as seen by an observer on Earth, adjusted to the value it would have in the absence of the atmosphere...
of 22.5. I.e., an estimated 50% of objects of this magnitude have been found.
The survey has also established the mean Kuiper Belt plane and introduced new formal definitions of the dynamical classes of Kuiper belt objects.
The remarkable discoveries include:
- 28978 Ixion28978 Ixion28978 Ixion is a Kuiper belt object discovered on May 22, 2001. Ixion is a plutino and a very likely dwarf planet; its diameter of 650 km estimated by Spitzer makes it about the fifth largest plutino. It is named after Ixion, a figure from Greek mythology...
, large plutinoPlutinoIn astronomy, a plutino is a trans-Neptunian object in 2:3 mean motion resonance with Neptune. For every 2 orbits that a plutino makes, Neptune orbits 3 times. Plutinos are named after Pluto, which follows an orbit trapped in the same resonance, with the Italian diminutive suffix -ino... - 19521 Chaos19521 Chaos19521 Chaos , is a cubewano, a Kuiper-belt object not in resonance with any planet. It is a likely dwarf planet. Chaos was discovered in 1998 by the Deep Ecliptic Survey, with Kitt Peak's 4 m telescope. Assuming it has an albedo of 0.09, the absolute magnitude of 4.9 would make it about...
(cubewanoCubewanoA classical Kuiper belt object, also called a cubewano is a low-eccentricity Kuiper belt object that orbits beyond Neptune and is not controlled by an orbital resonance with Neptune. Cubewanos have orbits with semi-major axes in the 40–50 AU range and, unlike Pluto, do not cross Neptune’s orbit...
), the first binaryBinary asteroidA binary asteroid is a system of two asteroids orbiting their common center of mass, in analogy with binary stars. 243 Ida was the first binary asteroid to be identified when the Galileo spacecraft did a flyby in 1993...
trans-Neptunian objectTrans-Neptunian objectA trans-Neptunian object is any minor planet in the Solar System that orbits the Sun at a greater distance on average than Neptune.The first trans-Neptunian object to be discovered was Pluto in 1930...
(TNO), the first object with perihelion too far to be affected (scattered) by NeptuneNeptuneNeptune is the eighth and farthest planet from the Sun in the Solar System. Named for the Roman god of the sea, it is the fourth-largest planet by diameter and the third largest by mass. Neptune is 17 times the mass of Earth and is slightly more massive than its near-twin Uranus, which is 15 times...
and a large semi-major axisSemi-major axisThe major axis of an ellipse is its longest diameter, a line that runs through the centre and both foci, its ends being at the widest points of the shape...
, remarkable for its semi-major axis of more than 500 AUAstronomical unitAn astronomical unit is a unit of length equal to about or approximately the mean Earth–Sun distance....
and extreme eccentricityOrbital eccentricityThe orbital eccentricity of an astronomical body is the amount by which its orbit deviates from a perfect circle, where 0 is perfectly circular, and 1.0 is a parabola, and no longer a closed orbit...
(0.96) taking the object from the inside of the Neptune's orbitOrbitIn physics, an orbit is the gravitationally curved path of an object around a point in space, for example the orbit of a planet around the center of a star system, such as the Solar System...
to more than 1000 AU, the first Neptune trojanNeptune TrojanNeptune trojans are Kuiper belt object-like bodies in solar orbit that have the same orbital period as Neptune and follow roughly the same orbital path...
, with one of the most inclinedInclinationInclination in general is the angle between a reference plane and another plane or axis of direction.-Orbits:The inclination is one of the six orbital parameters describing the shape and orientation of a celestial orbit...
orbits (>68°)